Where is the Hottest Place on Earth?

People love records! The fastest animal (the cheetah), the tallest mountain (Mount Everest or Mauna Kea), or the deepest depth (Marianas Trench). You wouldn’t think that anyone would want to know the hottest place, especially if they lived there. But some people definitely want to know!

For decades, Al Aziziyah, Libya had the record for the highest temperature ever recorded, an astonishing 136.4°F (58°C). The temperature was a real anomaly and scientists questioned whether it was valid. In 2012, a panel was convened to look into it and they concluded that the temperature reading was an error. So what had been the 2nd hottest temperature ever recorded became the first. Furnace Creek in Death Valley, California recorded 134°F (56.7°C) on July 10, 1913. People in Death Valley were thrilled!

But that temperature reading was taken at a meteorological station. The actual hottest temperature recorded on Earth is 25° higher and in the desert in Iran. See what accounts for the difference in the video below.